During the drilling and completion of oil and gas wells, the downhole environment can impose substantial operational stresses on downhole equipment. These harsh conditions exposure to drilling mud, contaminants entrained in well fluids, and hydraulic forces of the circulating drilling mud. Extreme pressures and temperatures may also be present. Such harsh conditions can damage and degrade downhole equipment. Valves used in sampling, drilling, and completion operations may be susceptible to the harsh downhole conditions because they require the use of seals and moving parts. For example, valves used in a downhole environment may interact with deleterious debris carried by formation fluids and encounter significant pressure drops.
The present disclosure addresses the need for sealing high differential pressure in a downhole environment, as well as in surface applications.